


See you around Soldier

by SophieGraceJ



Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 5
Genre: F/M, Mutual Pining, Sexual Tension, Sharpshooters meeting in a cabin in the woods, Veterans talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 16:54:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16099841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieGraceJ/pseuds/SophieGraceJ
Summary: “Killing isn’t a hobby of mine. It’s a talent. It’s not something I do for fun. Couldn’t say the same for you though.”“What makes you say that?”She scoffed, looking away from him, hardly bearing the sight of his grin. “Think you already know the answer to that…”“What if I don’t?” he said, abandoning the table and finding his way opposite to her, crouching to the ground and taking a seat as if they were just two friends having a chat.





	See you around Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!   
> Hope you enjoy this little thing I wrote for our two favorite Hope County sharpshooters!   
> Seriously though, I'm really surprised there hasn't been any fanfic for the two, to me they're so similar in so many ways, but of course on opposite sides in a practical holy war.  
> This isn't that good but I just had to write something for them! I feel like they would make a great couple! XD

Now I lay me down to sleep,  
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,  
If I shall die before I wake,  
I pray the Lord my soul to take.   
Amen.

Grace remembered the poem her Pops would speak to her before bed when she was a young girl every night, before he left for Afghanistan, to fight in the “War on Terror”. He was a soldier, a warrior, a protector, of course he braved war and violence again hoping it would prevent more of it happening in the future, in her future. His daughter’s future. 

How wrong a thought that was. She walked the war-torn grounds of Afghanistan after he did, her footsteps on his. Not long after actually. 18 when he left, and 18 when she last saw him as himself. He was never the same, when he came home from his three tours. Each and every time, a piece of him disintegrating, leaving the structure of a man, a man empty and in pain. He was in so much pain and she couldn’t do anything to save him. 

That’s why she joined the military. He trained her to be a soldier, to walk in his footsteps, and so she did. She was 20 at the time she began basic training. Made her first real bond, with another girl. Rebecca. They had something in common. 

A militant family, the encouragement to join the army. Yet, where Grace had the loving memory of her father pushing her further, Rebecca had the expectations of her father pushing her. Stressing her to succeed no matter what. 

Rebecca took her own life because of that intense pressure, and the failure she believed herself to be. She took her own life just like Pops did. 

Every touch, every sight of war, every experience, every brush with the realm of war held such a negative and disgusting energy. It haunted Grace, every moment of every day when she had returned home from her first tour. She hated it.   
But she was a soldier, and a soldier never gave up. They were brave, they could persevere. They were strong … 

She was could be all three, she knew she could. So did pops, he knew the same. He believed her to be a better soldier than he could have ever been. 

Next tour she was a sniper for her division. It took months of training, bravery, perseverance and strength. She did it. Pops would be proud. 

But not even the honour of fighting for her Pops, her country and home could prepare her for making her first kill…

She couldn’t think about it, not without shame and sadness. It was funny, she couldn’t bat an eyelid shooting these peggies alongside the deputy, but back in Afghanistan, it was different. She was young, naïve and too attached to everything surrounding her. To people, people like Rebecca, and the Taliban soldier she had to shoot in the head from 200 meters away. She was too optimistic, blinded by her own hopes to save the day and stop this war from continuing.

Now she was a veteran of so much tragedy. She was shaped into a soldier she had always wished to be, yet now that she had attained that rank, there was a misery within itself. Maybe she didn’t want it. 

There she was though. Standing in the clearing of a forest somewhere in the Whitetail mountains, where a small cabin rested, vacant of any use or acknowledgment. There she was alone, isolated like she had always been, perhaps destined to be. 

The deputy was gone, captured by – by Jacob … The only Seed she couldn’t stand to think of, to dwell her mind on. A monster. 

A murderer who called himself a soldier. He was no soldier. Bet he probably knew it too, hated to think about it because it was true. He was a coward who barked words of bravery and sacrifice. 

“If I die in my sleep, pray the Lord my soul to keep.” Grace whispered, reclining by the fire she had made while gritting her teeth and trembling from the freezing cold. It wasn’t cold anymore. 

Not with the warmth buzzing and dancing right by her body, keeping her safe and secure. From the darkness and coldness of night. She was safe… All she had ever wanted. For herself and the people she cared for… 

“Deputy, if you hear me … Know that if you die I’ll find you up in the clouds and kill you a second time for the inconvenience. So … just don’t. Hope County needs you more than ever.” She spoke into the walkie talkie that sang static to her ears. 

“Wish Boomer was here. He’d know what to do …” 

Grace sat there by the campfire for a while, hugging her knees tighter to her abdomen, watching the flickering of orange light. Lingering worries and stress seemed to disperse as she allowed drowsiness and sleep to attack at her eyes and head. But the howls of wolves warned her to put out the fire and rest. The cabin was good for that. 

She had searched it when she got here, finding nothing but dust and fragments of glass from the broken windows. It was a grave, a skeleton of what it might’ve been before now. 

Throwing her gear into a corner, she wasn’t prepared for a voice to halt her from lying down on the floorboard. 

“Grace Armstrong. I’ve heard a lot about you. You’re seen as a legend to the locals here. Probably a hero to the resistance. Too bad we both know you’re just a sidekick to the deputy now … Nothing more than a tool that kills for a wannabe soldier. And now, you’re a lost puppy.” 

His voice was surprising, she had expected it to be cruel, poisonous, perhaps arrogant and psychotic like John’s. Or calm and supressed like Joseph’s. But it was neither. 

It was soft, yet strong and far from passive. Curious, impressed even? It shocked her. She had for so long believed that if she heard that murderer’s voice in person, she would go into a fit of rage and kill the fucker. But no. Her ears were perked and all she could feel was a curiosity of her own. 

“Jacob Seed. I should kill you where you stand. And I will if I have to.” 

He laughed a hollow sound, and made his way over to a scratched-up table that stood by a broken window, just right to the cabin door. 

She had seen the oldest Seed before, from afar however, with her sharp vision. In another life, he would be the type of man she could fall in love with without knowing him at all. An aura of quietness, distance and strength. Yet also a softness, a sharp contrast to what he really was. 

“I can say the same Grace. You try anything and I’ll have you buried in the dirt outside.” 

It was Graces turn to laugh a hollow sound. Hers revealed a bit more emotion and inner thought than his however, it was cold and hinting at her true feelings toward him. And he recognised it too, pale eyes holding a glint of amusement as he leaned against the table, tall body facing her smaller one. “Wouldn’t dare. Not ‘cause of fear though.” 

“Because of what then?” 

“Pure curiosity as to why you’re here, not torturing people back at the Veteran’s centre.” 

He smiled. It was as if the moon knew there was going to be confrontation between her and Jacob that night, it’s light shining into the cabin like a torch. She could take note of every feature on his face. 

“You should know better than anyone else that what I do isn’t torture but a necessary lesson. A lesson we all have to face one day. A lesson we’ve both been learned.” 

Grace stiffened, not knowing why but sensing it. He was right in a sick and fucked up way. Sacrifice. You had to be strong either way, on any length of the spectrum. To be sacrificed or to sacrifice. Or to witness it as a bystander.

“Can’t say I was forced to murder friends and family for the sake of being called strong, but sure. I get it. Get that you hide under the mask of a soldier to do fucked up shit.” 

What she said so dangerously seemed to spark a bit of fight in him, a bit of anger. His eyes now glinting with a different kind of sentiment.

“And what about you? How many have you killed? How much damage have you done … You’re not innocent. You’re just like me, the only difference is you resist the truth of this world.” Jacob spoke calmly, contrary to his piercing eyes.

Grace leaned back, as if his words were bullets flying towards her from a weapon. 

“Killing isn’t a hobby of mine. It’s a talent. It’s not something I do for fun. Couldn’t say the same for you though.” 

“What makes you say that?” 

She scoffed, looking away from him, hardly bearing the sight of his grin. “Think you already know the answer to that…” 

“What if I don’t?” He said, abandoning the table and finding his way opposite to her, crouching to the ground and taking a seat as if they were just two friends having a chat. 

“Need to spell it out for you? Fucking murderer is what you are. You like the thrill of it all, watchin those people go insane, playing with their heads. Turning people against each other. Treating people like animals in a zoo.” 

“Isn’t that just what we are? Animals? See, you keep avoiding the truth of what we are. Humans are nothing but animals who will return to their primordial instincts like the flick of a switch.” he clicked his fingers to intensify that truth, the truth that humans will do whatever they can to survive. 

Grace didn’t like to think of that. She’d rather think about the complexities of what humans were. The compassion, the hope, love and sadness. The bonds formed between one another. That’s when she remembered something about wolves, something Pops told her. 

“Wolves are capable of compassion. You know that? My pops told me about this story. ‘Bout this guy who got lost somewhere in Alaska … was missing for days, no food, no water. Running in circles trying to find a way back to his group. They were hiking, not that it matters. He could hear the howl of wolves trailing him. They were hunting him.” Grace witnessed a tick in Jacobs face, a change in his façade. His face no longer empty or stern, but softer … familiar. “Eventually caught up with him too. Couldn’t imagine the fear he would have felt. Seeing those wolves up close, hungry for his flesh … Apparently, he begged for mercy, as if they would understand him. They’re just animals, right? They wouldn’t care. They need to eat to survive. Yet …They didn’t touch him, gave one glance at him and left. The whole pack of them. Not long after, he was found near death from hypothermia by a hunter. Know what saved him? The wolf’s footprints.” 

“I’d call that luck. Not compassion.” Jacob grumbled, peering away from Grace as if hiding something from her. 

“Don’t care what you call it. Those wolves saved him, whether they meant to or not. Maybe he saved them too. From that hunter… Sometimes survival isn’t ‘bout being the strongest, it’s ‘bout working together and having the compassion to do so.” 

Jacob faced her, eyes unreadable. He just stared for a while, truth be told it made her a little uncomfortable. She shifted where she sat, looking at the ground to escape his gaze. 

“You can’t rely on compassion to save the day Grace. Not everyone is willing to sacrifice … their strength, their greed to give it.” 

Grace nodded, smiling an empty smile, “And some people aren’t willing to receive it.” She whispered, eyeing him closely, the squint of his eyes was the reaction she got.

“What’s that supposed to mean? 

She laughed. Not intentionally and it surprised her and him. The laugh was genuine, not two-faced or holding an underlying emotion or thought. She felt his gaze focus on her more than ever. 

“You’re the type of guy to reject kindness out of some delusional idea, thinkin you’d be weak to want and need compassion from another human.” She explained, struggling to hold back a smile. He remained blank and unreadable, but the atmosphere lifted. Grace could sense they weren’t about to suddenly go at each other’s throats.

“It has nothing to do with wanting or needing it. I can’t have it, I have a job to do, a purpose that don’t involve anything like that.” 

Grace stood, aware of his judging eyes waiting for her to make a move. His limbs were rigid and ready to jump into action. 

“Don’t worry. Not trying anything, just gettin some food. Deputy and I got some supplies from one of your outposts couple days ago …” She hushed, paused her words, peering back at him as she scavenged through a backpack in the corner. 

He wasn’t sitting anymore, but looking, studying the cabin. A little worse for wear. Paint falling off the walls, spiders and their webs up where the cornice should have been. A mess but cosy enough.  
His every step, disciplined and purposeful, heavy and loud. He was tall, way too tall. And she found herself looking him over multiple times, she couldn’t deny he was attractive. Definitely the type of man she could fall in love with without knowing at all. 

He caught her staring, giving her a smile that could have passed for mischievous.

“Aren’t you gonna ask about the Deputy? If they’re alright? Alive and kicking?” He asked, perhaps to change the subject. 

“Don’t need to. I have faith in them, it’s not like they stay long whenever you get your hands on ‘em anyway.” She remarked, a bit of a dig at the big soldier. 

He chuckled, tracing a hand across the wall, “Don’t need them to stay long, I’ve gotten quite efficient at getting them to follow my orders. And I’ve got to say I’m impressed with their work as well. See, I understand how to work with others to get things done.”   
He smirked, finding his way to Grace. She had to crane her neck a little to gain a solid image of his face. 

She could feel his every exhale of air on her face, his eyes sizing her up, tangling his index finger in her ponytail, as if examining every strand. 

She was frustrated with herself for enjoying it, but she couldn’t help the energy between the two of them pulling her closer. 

The way he so fluidly invaded the space between them, eyes on her lips and hand sliding away from her, leaving her body. 

Grace tried so hard to halt herself, but by the time it was over, the fear and want, their lips had reached each other, not in the form of a kiss. There was the desire for it, yet they both knew they couldn’t have it. She wanted it so badly, mouth open and waiting for him to take the chance. Instead of taking it, he placed his finger on her bottom lip, and left her alone in the corner. 

“See you around soldier, be careful out there. Wolves are out tonight.”


End file.
